12 hour knit-in

Students from Cardiff University’s People & Planet society are holding a 12 hour ‘knit-in’ today to demand Cardiff University joins the Worker’s Rights Consortium (WRC)

The group will be knitting until 8pm this evening, in the main lobby of Cardiff University’s Main Building to highlight the long working hours done under difficult conditions in sweat shops and garment factories around the world.

They are asking people to sign a petition, which will be given to the Vice Chancellor David Grant to ask the university to join the WRC, and make the garments they use fairer, as part of a UK wide week of action against sweatshops.

The WRC is an independent labour rights monitoring organisation, conducting investigations of working conditions in factories around the world. Their purpose is to combat sweatshops and protect the rights of workers who make garments that are sold in the university.

They train workers in their rights and receive confidential complaints if they feel there is a violation in the workplace. The WRC will then conduct an investigation, making the results public.

Joining institutions have to recognise and maintain a manufacturing Code of Conduct, provide factory disclosure information to the WRC and pay an affiliation fee of £1000 a year, or 1% of garment sales turnover.

The group have already sent letters to Dr Grant as well as a previous petition signed by students in support of the campaign but they say there has been no movement on the matter from university management.

Megan David is Co-President of People & Planet and a member of the student council. “It’s time for us to get students’ voices heard on this issue and to let the university know that we will not be left behind other universities who are showing they care for the workers who make our garments,” said Megan.